ELIZABETH STEELE|GUEST

It was a cold and blustery January morning when my Marine-Corps-fighter-pilot-husband flew off for a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific. We had been married for only three months as I gave him a tearful kiss goodbye and drove back home as a weepy mess. I wondered what in the world I would do to keep myself busy until he came back home in July. I had a part-time job working at a makeup counter working three days a week and was glad for something to do. But the truth is, I really longed for a meaningful way to serve the Lord and wondered what that was going to look like now that he was gone.

I had left my work in Tennessee as a director of a residence hall and women’s coordinator for Campus Crusade in order to marry Joe and was happy to do so. But I did love those jobs; I got to be around lovely college-aged women all day,  teaching Bible studies, mentoring them in one-on-ones, and hosting folks in my little apartment on a nearly daily basis. Of course, it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, but there was a lot of joy in it for me. It filled my cup to serve them as I served the Lord.

But now what? I knew selling lipstick was not going to ring the bell for me. I prayed and asked my heavenly Father to provide a way for me to serve Him. And sure enough, He answered in such a kind way.

A Sincere Welcome

I had put my membership at Okatie Presbyterian—a church plant that had just particularized—the week before Joe and I got married. It was a tiny band of around eighty people, but full of life, energy, and folks who loved the Lord and were growing in their faith. It excited me to be there. I had signed up for the ladies’ Bible study, hoping to make new friends and get to know other women in the church. And that’s where I met Frankie Bennett, a cheerful, middle-aged woman who smiled often and led the study. She had the joy of the Lord. On our way out, Frankie asked me, “Are you doing anything right now? Would you want to come over for lunch?” Now Frankie did not know me from Adam. I was the new girl at church, and we had spoken maybe just a few words to each other up to that point.

But I quickly said, “I’d love to!” and followed her to her home. I was aware that this was the first time ever in my life that someone had invited me to a meal at their home on the spot and it seemed kind of radical. I pondered how abnormal it was for anyone to ask a stranger over, but I was glad that she did. I was hopeful that I might make a new friend in her.

As we walked into her inviting kitchen, I took notice that she had left her dishes in the sink that morning and papers were scattered over the kitchen table. She was not expecting company, but she had made room in her schedule that day for me. She started making grilled cheese sandwiches and popped open a can of tomato soup to heat on the stove. She made me feel instantly at home. Conversation was easy and we spent the next two and a half hours talking about the church, Bible study, being military wives, and what it was like to go through long deployments. I could see quickly and easily that the Lord had placed her in my life to answer that prayer I had prayed earlier. He had given me a new friend and a mentor. But that was not all.

An Invitation to Serve

As I got up to leave, Frankie mentioned to me that Okatie was planning to form its first-ever “Women in the Church” group and they would need help with that. She wondered if I would be interested in serving? I didn’t know exactly what I was signing up for, but I knew I wanted to do it. I could sense God’s smile on me throughout the entire afternoon with her and told her that if it meant I got to spend more time with her, I was definitely in!

As it happens, getting to serve on the inaugural women’s ministry team at Okatie was formative for me. The very next month, the church sent me and two other precious friends to our first Leadership Training in Atlanta, and you might say I was “hooked.” I got to learn right there in my early twenties what it meant to “think biblically and live covenantally,” what Titus 2 ministry looked like with boots on the ground, what life-on-life discipleship meant in the context of the local church, and what “Word-based and relationally-driven” was going to mean in developing a philosophy of women’s ministry.

An impromptu invitation to lunch literally changed my life in the best ways. I am now the same age that Frankie was when she asked me over. I am the middle-aged woman who gets to sincerely welcome the next generation to come alongside me in loving and serving the church. Praise be to God.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash